Fifth Sunday of Lent
Year A. 22nd March 2026
INTRODUCTION
Good morning/evening. My name is ………. and I would like to wish you a warm welcome to our Mass at Holy Spirit Church, Kurri Kurri/ St Joseph’s, Cessnock/ St Francis Xavier’s Abermain/ St Michael’s, Wollombi
The priest celebrating with us today is Father James / Fr Raphael and assisting him / them is Deacon Viane.
On the 5th Sunday of Lent in Year A, the key reading is the raising of Lazarus from the tomb. Jesus knew that even raising a man from the tomb would not convince the Pharisees and Sadducees that his actions were through the power of God. The raising of Lazarus is a demonstration of Jesus’ power over sin and death.
Please stand for the Processional hymn
GREETING
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And with your spirit.
PENITENTIAL ACT
You were sent to heal the contrite of heart: Lord, have mercy.
ALL: Lord, have mercy.
You came to call sinners: Christ, have mercy.
ALL: Christ, have mercy.
You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us: Lord, have mercy.
ALL: Lord, have mercy.
May almighty God have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life.
COLLECT
By your help, we beseech you, Lord our God,
may we walk eagerly in that same charity
with which, out of love for the world,
your Son handed himself over to death.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
AMEN
LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
Ezekiel 37:12-14
A reading from the prophet Ezekiel
I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live.
The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.
The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Ps 129. R. v.7
Response: With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
1. Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading. (R.)
2. If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you. (R.)
3. My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
(Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.) (R.)
4. Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity. (R.)
SECOND READING
Romans 8:8-11
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he will give life to your own mortal bodies.
People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interests, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.
The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
See John 11:25. 26
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will not die for ever.
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
GOSPEL
John 11:3-7. 17. 20-27. 33-45
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
I am the resurrection and the life.
The sisters Martha and Mary sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’
On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection and the life.
If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’ Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:
‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.
I knew indeed that you always hear me,
but I speak
for the sake of all these who stand round me,
so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’
When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’
Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
HOMILY
PROFESSION OF FAITH
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. AMEN
UNIVERSAL PRAYER – PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Celebrant
With the Lord there is kindness, healing and hope in redemption. Let us turn to God who hears our every prayer.
Commentator
1. For the church, (pause) that she may put her trust in Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, we pray:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
2. For leaders of nations (pause) that they may strive for justice, healing, and peace, and turn away from violence and war, we pray:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
3. For a new evangelisation: (pause) That adults and children may experience God's life-giving presence, growing in faith and ready to live as children of the light, we pray:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
4. For our community (pause) that our spirits may be alive because of faith, hope and love, giving room to the divine Spirit of Jesus to work marvels of grace and peace in our souls, we pray:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
5. For the Sick and Suffering (pause) For all who are burdened by sickness, grief, or despair, that they may encounter Christ's compassion, experience unconditional forgiveness, and find strength to rise to new life, we pray:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
6. For all those who have died that they may see the fulfilment of the resurrection promised in Christ (pause) we pray especially for our recently deceased…… and for those whose anniversaries occur at this time including ……. in Christ, we pray:
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
Celebrant
Loving God, in Your infinite mercy, hear these our prayers and those unspoken in our hearts. Through Christ, our Risen Lord.
All: Amen.
LITURGY OF THE1 EUCHARIST
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Hear us, almighty God,
and, having instilled in your servants
the teachings of the Christian faith,
graciously purify them
by the working of this sacrifice.
Through Christ our Lord.
AMEN
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
PREFACE
PREFACE 5TH SUNDAY OF LENT
Lazarus
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
For as true man he wept for Lazarus his friend
and as eternal God raised him from the tomb,
just as, taking pity on the human race,
he leads us by sacred mysteries to new life.
Through him the host of Angels adores your majesty
and rejoices in your presence for ever.
May our voices, we pray, join with theirs
in one chorus of exultant praise, as we acclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
THE MYSTERY OF FAITH
We proclaim your Death, O Lord,
and profess your Resurrection
until you come again.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
We pray, almighty God,
that we may always be counted among the members of Christ,
in whose Body and Blood we have communion.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Through Christ our Lord.
AMEN.
DISMISSAL
Go forth, the Mass is ended.
Thanks be to God.
© The scriptural quotations are taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Co Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. The English translation of the Psalm Responses, the Alleluia and Gospel Verses, and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, and the Titles, Summaries, and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass © 1997, 1981, 1968, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. The prayers are from the English Translation of the Roman Missal © 2010 International Committee on English in the Liturgy Inc. (ICEL). All rights reserved.